Allied Health Services contract extended

The Allied Health Services contract will be extended for a further year, from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, with an option to extend for an additional year. 
 
As you may be aware, our current client outcomes and weekly compensation costs are not where they should be. The costs of providing weekly compensation, treatment and rehabilitation has grown significantly in the past decade with minimal effect on client return to independence timeframes. 
 
Longer recovery timeframes and extended time off work has negative impacts for the injured person, their whānau, employer, and community. This is also putting pressure on the Accident Compensation Scheme and the sustainability of the entitlements we provide. 
 
This extension will provide time to work with the primary and secondary care sector to determine how we can better support client recovery outcomes and ACC Scheme sustainability. At the same time, we will also undertake a market review of the physiotherapy sector. We anticipate these pieces of work will influence the future shape of these services and contractual mechanisms. 

What does this mean for contract holders? 

A contract variation should be with contract holders by early September. To continue providing services under the Allied Health Services contract, they will need to reply to the variation by the date specified in the variation email. 
 
As part of the contract extension some minor clarifications will be made, these will be outlined in the variation email. 
 
If the variation terms are not agreed by the contract holder, the contract will end on 31 October 2025 and they will need to apply to move on to the Cost of Treatments Regulations.